


Fire Once Again (Book 1: The Element of Freedom)

by scarletskys



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Avatar Zuko (Avatar), Family, Friendship, Gen, Ozai's A+ Parenting, People Might be a Bit OOC, Rewrite, Sokka (Avatar) Is an Idiot, bear with me I'm still learning how to write preexisting characters, tags susceptible to abrupt change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27996168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletskys/pseuds/scarletskys
Summary: Avatar Aang died in the Raids of the Air Nomads, desperately trying to defend his people.Many believed that the cycle of the Avatar was broken. But Katara never gave up hope, and Zuko couldn't afford to.But when the identity of the next Avatar is discovered, all of their worlds come crashing down in a way they never expected. And now, they have a decision to make.
Relationships: Iroh & Proverbs, Iroh & Tea, Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Zuko & Inner Conflict, deciding on ships later
Comments: 12
Kudos: 38





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> I like thinking about AUs (I have a whole list I want to write) and this one was first up. 
> 
> I sometimes edit after posting, but if there's any major changes, I'll put them in the end notes.
> 
> Without further ado, Avatar Zuko. *cue fanfare*

Several years after his burning and subsequent banishment, it's all Zuko can do to hold onto hope. "It's not impossible, he's out there somewhere," becomes his mantra. The Avatar has eluded his grasp thus far, but Zuko _will_ find him. He knows the Avatar was likely killed in the raids of the temple, but he pushes that thought away. After fruitlessly searching the Air Temples several times, Zuko decides that his next best bet is with the Water Tribes. He orders his men to set South first. It will definitely be easier to search there. The North has held strong for the entirety of the war. It would be suicide to bring his men there. But, as far as Zuko knows, there isn't anyone left in the Southern tribe from the hundreds of raids on the villages. 

After several weeks drifting through the icy water, he's losing hope of finding the Southern Water Tribe as well. No- no, it's not gone. Zuko pushes that thought away. It has to be somewhere. 

Days later, someone shouts that there is something in the distance. Zuko’s not sure who it is. He’s never really taken the time to learn the names of his crew.

He rushes to the telescope on the deck and, sure enough, a tiny white village blending perfectly in the snow rests snugly in the distance. 

()()()()()()

Zuko steps off the ship and scans the tribe, his eyes narrowed. There are only a few people, twenty, at the most, almost all women, elderly, and young children. 

“Where are you hiding him,” he snarls at the pathetic excuse for a village. 

He is met with silence, except for whimpering from some of the younger children buried in their mother's parkas. 

“The Avatar, where is he?” Zuko says, louder this time.

“You know, Avatars can be girls too!” a girl says indignantly, hands on her hips, glaring at him. There's a boy next to her, covered in face paint, desperately trying to get her to shut up.

_Avatars can be girls too._ That must be a clue. 

“So the Avatar is a woman,” Zuko decides. He lunges for a woman and grabs her by the hood of her parka and shakes her roughly. The girl who spoke shouts in alarm.

“She’d be about this age, master of all the elements,” he tells them.

“We don’t have the Avatar,” the boy in face paint says. “Go home.”

Zuko thrusts the woman back to the girl and snarls, "You don't get to speak to me that way, peasant."

The peasant charges Zuko with a club. Zuko kicks the club out of his hands and thrusts him roughly into the snow. The boy tries again, this time with a boomerang. Zuko dodges it easily. Pathetic. The boy can't be that much younger than Zuko is, but Zuko could have fended off these untrained attacks as a child. Zuko hears a whooshing sound behind him, and he whirls around. The boomerang is hurtling back towards him. Oh. Boomerang. Crud.

Zuko throws his hands in front of his face and waits for an impact. It never comes. Instead, there's a hard _thunk_. Zuko looks up , utterly nonplussed. 

There’s a giant boulder in front of him, and the boomerang is lodged in it. Deep. Zuko is very glad that boulder showed up in time. For a moment. 

“Who bent that?” Zuko yells, turning back around to the tribe. “You're the water tribe, only the Avatar could have bent this!”

The girl looks furious. “Stop playing dumb!” she yells back. “You bent that! Why would you think any one of us would protect you?”

“No, I didn’t! I’m a firebender…” he trails off. The girl is right. If the Avatar truly is Water Tribe, there is no reason for her to protect him.

And yet there is a boulder right in front of him.

His head swims as the truth clunks into place, and he drops to his knees. His crew must have realized it at the same time as he did, because he feels two pairs of hands roughly pulling him to his feet and towards his ship. The world spins as he is dragged through the snow, and the last thing Zuko remembers is the creaking as the ships tip latches up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edits: I shortened this chapter and Zuko ends up back on his ship, instead of in the SWT


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko and Iroh have a conversation about what Zuko is going to do now that he is an Avatar. Zuko is in denial (but not about the thing you might think).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agh, sorry that took so long! I haven't abandoned this story- I just had a tooon of other stuff going on. I'm going to try and update weekly, but I can't promise anything.

As soon as Zuko wakes up, he sits straight up, good eye wide and wild. He’s back in his cabin aboard his ship. It must have been a dream. There is no way the Fire Prince could be able to bend another element besides fire. He heaves a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was waiting to release.

There is a sharp knock at the door before Uncle strides in with a tray of tea. “Good morning, Prince Zuko. How does this lovely evening find you.”

“Exhausted,” Zuko says truthfully. “Wait, evening?”

“Nothing a cup of good tea can’t cure,” Uncle says.

Zuko resists the very strong urge to roll his eyes. 

After Uncle pours the tea and hands a cup to Zuko, he says, “You slept for a while, twelve hours, in fact. So, my nephew, you must now decide what your next course of action will be.” 

Zuko takes a long sip of the tea. “What do you mean?”

“I mean what are you going to do now that you know that you are the Avatar?”

Zuko chokes on his tea. “You mean that _wasn’t_ a dream?” 

“No. You are the Avatar.”

Uncle is suspiciously unperturbed by the news. Raising an eyebrow, Zuko asks angrily, “And how long have you known about this and not been telling me?”

Uncle looks into his lap. “Years.”

“What?!” Zuko yelps. “How?”

Iroh winces. “Have you ever noticed, Prince Zuko, that when you bend fire, water around you ripples? Or the air sometimes gets almost imperceptibly breezier? I have suspected for some time. Today merely confirms my suspicions.”

Zuko takes a deep breath, trying to settle his anger, and his stomach. For once, he doesn’t think the nausea is a result of the rocking of the boat. “Ok. Ok. I’m the Avatar. Great. Wonderful. Exactly what I always wanted. This makes my life _so_ much easier,” he mutters.

Uncle looks at him expectantly. “You must decide what your next course of action will be,” he repeats. “What will you do, now that you know that you are the Avatar?” 

Zuko thinks about it. His quest to find the Avatar and give him (or her) to his father in order to restore his honor is now impossible, now that he is the Avatar. Wait. No it isn’t. He can still…. A plan forms in his mind. “I’m going home,” Zuko decides. 

It’s Iroh’s turn to choke on his tea. Zuko thumps him on the back, and when his airway is cleared, he splutters. “Zuko- what? No!”

“Why not? No- listen Uncle,” Zuko says earnestly. “The terms of my banishment was that I had to bring the Avatar back to the Fire Nation. But it never said I had to imprison him. I could just go home, tell Father _I_ am the Avatar. I am his loyal son- he would be pleased to have a son- the Fire Prince- be the world’s most powerful being! And I could have my honor and Father’s love, finally.” As Zuko keeps talking, Uncle’s expression grows more and more horrified. 

“Zuko- no! What are you thinking?” Uncle nearly shouts. 

Zuko falters. “Huh? I’m thinking that I could have my honor back and my Father’s love!” 

“Love is not something that needs to be earned,” Iroh murmurs. 

That makes no sense. Of course it is. Azula earned Father’s love by being a prodigy Firebender. Zuko earned Mother’s love by being kind and doing what she asked. Nobody he knows hasn’t had to earn love. He says, “Yes it is?” The last syllable quirks up in pitch to make it sound like a question. 

Uncle shakes his head sadly. “Your father will never change in his opinion of you.”

Zuko clamps his hands over his ears. “No that’s not true! Once I return, I will be welcomed home with honor and I will finally _earn_ Father’s love! And if you are right, and love does not need to be earned, then he cares about me, and _that_ is why he sent me here! He trusted me to bring back the most dangerous man on the planet!” He hates himself for the tears that prick the back of his eye at his words. Or, maybe more accurately, his uncle’s words.

“Nephew, what did you think would happen to the Avatar if you managed to bring him back? He would be chained head to toe, day and night. He would be tortured endlessly, leaving him just alive so that the next Avatar could not be born! Why do you think that it would be any different for you?” Uncle asks. His tone is still mild, but getting frustrated. As the two firebenders get angrier, the flames of the candles creep higher and wider. The room is getting almost uncomfortably warm. 

“Because I’m not some nameless hundred year old Air Nomad! I am his son, the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation!” Zuko shouts. 

Uncle bellows back, “Do you think that matters to him? His family means as little to him as the Earth Kingdom soldiers he slaughters by the thousands! The only thing that matters to him is how useful someone is to him- he uses people and then disposes of them! You learned that the hard way! Do you think Ozai ever meant for you to find the Avatar? He was missing for a hundred years! He sent you on a fool’s errand with nothing but a rusty ship, no crew and THAT!” Uncle gestures angrily at Zuko’s scar.

A silence falls over the room. Uncle seems to realize exactly what he had said and hastily tries saying, “Nephew, I’m sorry. I did not mean-” 

But Zuko is done listening. “Get out,” he interrupts, his voice dangerously calm.

“Prince Zuko-”

“ ** _GET OUT!_** ” Zuko screams. The candles flare giant, filling the cabin with smoke. Zuko can hear the retreat of his uncle, and hates himself for the tears on his face. Hates the way he almost believes Uncle. Hates that he is the person he's been looking for for years. Hates himself.

He lays back down on his bed trying not to breath in the smoke, trying to block the memories crowding to the forefront of his mind.

_A hand wreathed with flame reaching out to cup Zuko’s face-_

No- he can’t think about that. He counts to a hundred turtleducks, giving him something else to focus on, and the next thing he knows is sleep. 


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Sokka find themselves in a... situation.

Katara is getting bored. They have been out on the ice for _hours_ now, and they haven't seen a single fish. Just as she’s about to suggest that they go back home, she notices the shadow that indicates a school of arctic trout passing under their umiaq. She nudges Sokka and his face lights up. A fish swims closer to the surface and Sokka leans over the edge of the canoe. She can practically see the saliva hanging out of his mouth as he murmurs, “Mmm, I can already smell it cooking.” 

Katara rolls her eyes and turns her attention to a fish that swam up to her side of the umiaq. She takes off her glove - it’s always easier to feel the push and pull of the water that way - and tries to pull the water towards her. She feels the catch as the water responds to her will, and she squeals with delight as she manages to pull the fish out of the reluctant water. It’s kind of disgusting seeing a fish swimming in the teardrop shape of water this close to her face, but it’s exhilarating at the same time: she’s never maintained water in a shape like this for this long before!

Of course, water doesn’t like to be restrained, and it starts moving away from Katara, forcing her to follow it’s movement. “Sokka- Sokka look! I caught one!” she says excitedly. 

“Shh, Katara you’re going to scare it away,” Sokka whispers. He levels his spear, preparing to skewer the fish, and the end of the bone-spear punctures the sphere of water. Katara can’t hold it, and the sphere breaks, splashing all over Sokka. The fish speed away together to the rest of the school, leaving Sokka and Katara with nothing. 

“Hey!” they shriek at the same time.

“Sokka!” Katara yells. 

“Why is it that every time you play with magic water, _I_ get soaked!” Sokka says, shaking off his parka and wringing out his hair. Lucky for him, his atigi* is super thick and water repellent. Otherwise they’d have to worry about hypothermia in addition to catching food for the village. 

“That wasn’t my fault! You poked it with your spear! If you had looked, you would have seen that I actually caught a fish! And it’s not ‘magic water’ it’s waterbending! It’s-”

Sokka interrupts her. “I know, I know. You’ve given me this speech before. Look, I’m just saying, you need to be careful when you use it. Anyone could see us right now; there was a Fire Navy ship here just a day ago. And we still don’t know why they were.”

Katara huffs. “Yeah we do. They were looking for the Avatar.”

Sokka gives her a skeptical look. “Oh, come on, Sokka, the man literally said, ‘where is the Avatar’!” Katara protests. 

“Maybe,” Sokka concedes. “Or maybe he was looking to lure out a waterbender. And we both know what happened last time that was the case.”

Katara’s face darkens. They would never forget.

Of course, while they argue, they manage to get caught in a current. Sokka frantically uses his paddle to dodge ice, but it’s not enough. They manage to jump onto a relatively solid-looking ice plate before their umiaq got smashed to pieces. 

“Great job steering,” Katara said dryly.

“Well, maybe you should have waterbent us out of the ice,” Sokka shot back.

Katara rolled her eyes. 

“I knew I should have left you home. Leave it to a girl to screw everything up,” Sokka muttered.

“Excuse me?” Katara yelled. “What does my being a _girl_ have to do with _anything_? You are the most sexist person I've ever known! Ugh! I’m embarrassed to be related to you! For _years_ , I have been doing _everything_ around camp while you’ve been off playing soldier! You know what? I’m done. From now on, you’re on your own!”

A cracking noise sounds behind Katara. She turns around just in time to see an enormous iceberg cracking from the water she hadn’t known she was bending. The ice falls into the water creating a giant wave that pushes their ice raft for a large distance. 

“Congratulations,” Sokka says sarcastically. “You’ve gone from weird to freakish.”

“You mean… _I_ did that?” Katara asks, stunned. She has brought their house on accident before, but to destroy an iceberg bigger than their entire village? That’s new territory for her. 

“Yup. Good job. Um… where are we?” 

Katara looks around. She doesn’t recognise anything around her. She and Sokka are completely lost. 

()()()()()()

“Sokka, will you stop panicking?” Katara says, staring at Sokka, who’s been pacing for the last ten minutes.

“I’m not panicking- you’re panicking,” he says. 

Katara grabs his hand. “Seriously, Sokka, you’re going to hyperventilate. Come on, sit down.” Sokka reluctantly sits down on the ice next to her.

“We’ve got to think,” Sokka says. “Otherwise we’re not getting out of this alive.” Katara nods. They both know it. 

“Well, we won’t have to worry about water,” Katara realizes. Sokka looked at her incredulously. 

“Katara, we can’t drink ocean water!” Sokka exclaims. “The salt will leave us more dehydrated than we were before.”

Katara whacks him. “I’m not talking about ocean water, dummy. I’m talking about ice. Icebergs are fresh water, and even if it’s frozen ocean water, almost none of the salt gets frozen with it.”

Sokka’s eyes go wide with a face that says, _ohhhh right_. 

“I can melt it. I’m not very good at it, but I think I can melt enough ice to survive on,” Katara continues.

“What about food,” Sokka asks.

“We can still fish,” Katara points out.

Sokka makes a face. “Ewww, I don’t wanna eat raw fish. Gross!”

Katara whacks his arm again. “It’s either that or possibly dying out here. Besides, we eat raw fish sometimes at home.”

“Yeah, but when we have it there, it’s prepared.”

“Again, it’s either this, or possibly dying.” 

Sokka sticks his tongue out at her, but doesn’t protest. They’re both resigned to the situation they've found themselves in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh what's going to happen to Katara and Sokka?
> 
> *atigi: a male parka in the Inuit tribes. I'm just going to refer to both of their parkas as "atigi" because Katara's parka doesn't have the defining feature of a female Inuit parka (called an amauti)- a baby pouch, basically.


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has a conversation with Iroh. The Fire Nation ship gets some unexpected extra passengers.

Zuko was walking through the forest, and saw his mother. He tried to reach out to her and hug her, but she wasn’t Ursa anymore- she was a man saying _you’re a monster_ , pointing at his left eye. The man looked like someone from his crew, but the voice sounded like Uncle’s. And then Azula was there, looking younger than the day he left, calling him weak, stupid, worthless. She shoved him backwards and he fell through an abyss until he was in the Agni Kai arena, the one he's memorized every detail, every stone, every crack of, his father looming over him, flames wreathing the Fire Lord’s hand. The hand pressed against Zuko’s face, the pain feeling as fresh as the first time. His uncle’s voice rang out through the stadium, _why would you embarrass yourself like this, Nephew? I couldn’t even watch. You are unworthy of love; you deserve this disgrace._ This time, his father’s hand didn’t stop when his eye and ear were thoroughly scorched and bleeding. The fire didn’t stop and the pain didn’t stop until Zuko’s entire body crumbled to dust and was swept away in the wind.

()()()()()()

Zuko wakes up screaming. After a minute of flailing around and getting more and more tangled in his sheets, he sits up and looks around. He’s still in his cabin on the ship. Of course. Where else would he be?

He sits up and rubs his temples, groaning. Ever since he was ten and his mom disappeared, Zuko has had persistent nightmares. But that one was… worse than usual. Probably because that one featured Uncle, the one person who had never been in his nightmares before. 

He groans again, rolls out of his bed, dresses, and goes to eat. 

()()()()()()

His crew had been ignoring him all day. They usually did but this is a new level. Zuko doesn’t care. He welcomes the solitude. 

“There’s a storm coming,” Uncle mutters.

The sky is clear all around, so Zuko takes no stock in his uncle’s words. He has already instructed the crew to change course to go back to the Fire Nation. 

“Prince Zuko, perhaps we should alter our course.”

Zuko turns around, pointedly ignoring Uncle. His uncle sighs, and he hears the footsteps pad off. Zuko doesn't care. Serves his uncle right for treating Zuko that way yesterday. And the sky is clear for miles. There is no storm coming, the crazy old man. However, true to his uncle’s words, a few hours later, the sky is heavy with clouds, and the air is wet with rain.

He ignores Jee’s snarky comments on it, and allows the course to be altered around the storm. It would be more trouble than it's worth to try to go through. 

Zuko feels a warm calloused hand on his wrist. “You made the right choice, Prince Zuko,” Uncle says. 

Zuko yanks his arm away and stalks off below deck with a huff. Uncle lost the privilege to talk to him, touch him casually like that yesterday.

()()()()()()

“What's with him?” Jee asks nobody in particular. 

_Lots of things_ , Iroh thinks. He had heard Zuko’s screams from a nightmare that morning. Zuko just found out that he was the Avatar. Iroh had spoken without thinking. Zuko’s crew is more distant than ever. 

Jee walks away, leaving Iroh to his thoughts. He needs to apologize to Zuko, despite knowing that he is right about what he said. It hadn’t been helpful, it hadn’t been the right time, and all he succeeded in doing is alienating Zuko further.

Iroh finds Zuko in his cabin, meditating. 

“What is it, Uncle,” Zuko asks in a deliberately level voice. 

“I spoke without thinking. I was wrong about what I said,” Iroh explains carefully. 

With a sigh, Zuko extinguishes the flames and turns to face him. “No, you weren’t. Not completely,” he says in a resigned tone. Iroh looks up with a start. That had not been what he was expecting. “Look at how the crew has treated me since yesterday. They’ve never been… friendly, but now…. It makes sense. The Avatar is supposed to be the Fire Nation’s enemy, even if he is its prince. But I have to believe Father won’t imprison me. Despite being the one thing that could defeat the Fire Nation, the Avatar could be its most powerful weapon. _I_ could be the Fire Nation’s most powerful weapon. I’m going home. You can’t stop me.”

Iroh bows his head, knowing nothing else can be said today, and steps out of Zuko’s cabin.

()()()()()()

The next day, Zuko finds himself on deck, watching the ship’s progress through the icy waters of the Southern Sea. The ice is blinding, and the constant sun does not help. Zuko hates the poles. The sun has been up for weeks and it’s messing with his head. When Zuko had started his search for the Avatar and his uncle had taken over his education, Uncle had told him about the weeks when the sun never set in the North and South. They were called the Days of Light. They had coined a term for when people went insane, started hallucinating from the constant sun: Midnight Sun Madness. Zuko had scoffed, there was no way that could be real, but after three weeks of no night, Zuko can see how it would drive someone mad. He can't imagine living in a place like this. 

Zuko is jolted out of his musings as Uncle puts his hand on his shoulder. “Nephew. You are the commander of this ship. You have to give the order- the crew can't help them without your permission."

Zuko makes a grunt of confusion. Help who? Uncle points off the port side to a slab of ice floating in the water. From the deck of the ship, Zuko can barely make out two figures in blue and white clothing. Water Tribe peasant clothing. "No," Zuko says. 

"But, Prince Zuko, it's bad luck if you-"

"No, Uncle. I'm not having two Water Tribe peasants on my ship," Zuko snaps. 

"So you would just leave them out there to die?" Uncle protests.

Zuko hesitates. It doesn't sit right with him to condemn two people to death, but they aren't his obligation, and he wasn't lying when he said he didn't want any Water Tribe peasants on his ship. "I just said no. They are not my responsibility. Besides, what if this is some sort of sick Water Tribe savage punishment, and they did something to get banished out here?"

"I have never heard of the Water Tribe doing such a thing. It is much more likely that they got stranded somehow."

"Then that's their fault, not mine. Leave them."

Uncle sighs heavily and walks away. A minute later, Zuko hears Uncle call, "Prince Zuko gave the order. Bring them up!" Zuko looks up with a start. That is most certainly not the order he gave. He stomps over to Uncle. It may be childish, but the ringing pound the metal makes under his force is a very satisfying sound. Already, his men are rushing around, getting a lifeboat ready to deploy into the water.

"Uncle," Zuko hisses angrily. "I did _not_ tell you to bring those peasants onto my ship. In fact, I told you to do the exact opposite."

"My apologies, Prince Zuko," Uncle says, bowing his head in contrition. "I thought you said 'bring them in'."

Zuko groans and scrubs a hand over his face. How has he let his uncle get away with stunts like this for almost three years? It's his own fault- he should have given the order himself. And now it's too late to reverse it. The peasants are on their way back to the ship in a lifeboat with Lieutenant Jee and two other crew members. They clamber onto the deck and are surrounded by a crescent of soldiers, blocking the sides and back, in case they try anything. His crew might be superstitious and unqualified and dumb, but they aren't _that_ stupid. 

Zuko gets his first good look at the two peasants. They're young, probably a bit younger than him, but still teens. With a start, he realizes that he recognizes the girl. She was one of the people at the village he-

His thoughts are interrupted as the boy charges him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midnight Sun Madness is not an actual thing, however, the Midnight Sun is. Since it's the winter solstice pretty early into the show (and we're going to assume that means that it's December), it would be mid-summer in the South Pole, which means constant sun. For 11 weeks. Similarly, in the North Pole, they should be in the "Days of Darkness". Which also happens for 11 weeks. I don't know how the ATLA world works, because the sun was up in both the North and South, and there was snow in both hemispheres, but, you know... whatever. 
> 
> Also, fun fact, for in case you didn't know: When facing forward on a ship, port is to the left and starboard is to the right.


	5. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Sokka's situation... complicates itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to this week's chapter.  
> Definitely not my favorite chapter but... eh.

Katara isn’t sure how long they’ve been drifting. The constant sun makes it hard to tell on the best days. Not that it matters. All that really matters is the increasing hungriness and cold. Katara has managed to stave off dehydration with her bending, but neither of them have seen any fish yet. A spear doesn’t do any good if there’s nothing for it to be used on. And the cold is starting to soak through her atigi, and she’s guessing Sokka’s as well. Neither of them have slept. It’s too bright and too cold.

Katara is starting to give up when they see it. A hulking iron ship. A Fire Nation warship. Exactly what they need…. Now Katara really has given up; there’s no telling what the Fire Nation soldiers will do to them if they are seen. 

They’re seen.

As the ship passes their little ice floe, a smaller boat, about the size of their umiaq that was smashed to pieces, but a different shape and made of metal, gets lowered down the side of the ship and starts travelling straight for her and Sokka.

As it gets closer, Katara can make out three soldiers in the small boat. Three. And Sokka and she haven’t slept or eaten for days. They won’t be able to fight them off.

That doesn’t stop Sokka from trying. As soon as the soldiers step onto the ice, Sokka charges them with his spear. Nevermind that it’s a fishing spear and the soldiers are wearing metal armor. Nevermind that they are literally a few strides away from falling into the ocean. Or that Sokka hasn’t eaten or slept in two days. 

Somehow, nobody falls off the ice. However, Sokka’s spear gets snapped in half, and his arm gets pinned behind his back. Katara barely manages to bite down on her cry.

“Calm down, kid. We’re here to get you off the ice,” one of the soldiers grunts. The soldier is wearing the standard Fire Nation armor, but no faceplate. That’s good for Katara at least. Those things really freak her out. She doesn’t need any more fuel for her fear. 

“Yeah, so you can kill us!” Sokka shrieks. 

The soldier snorts. “More like the opposite.”

“Why?” Katara asks, and although her heart is pounding and she's quivering, her voice is somehow level. 

“I guess you could call it superstition. It’s common knowledge that if you don’t help who you can - if they’re drowning or drifting or shipwrecked - you’ll invoke the ocean spirit’s wrath. Especially since you kids are children of the moon and ocean. And that’s the last thing anyone wants. Besides, I highly doubt you kids are a threat,” a different soldier explains.

“I’m not a kid!” Sokka splutters. “I'm a warrior, and there's nothing you could do to make me get on your death ship!” 

Katara knows they need to go. She doesn't like it. She wants to gag at the very  _ idea  _ of getting on a Fire Nation ship, but she knows that she and her brother can't stay on their little slat of ice. They'll starve or freeze or the ice will melt and they'll drown or they'll find themselves stranded in the open ocean. Going with these Fire Nation soldiers is their best bet.

Katara nudges Sokka and they exchange glances. 

_ I’m  _ not  _ getting on a Fire Nation ship. _

_ I don’t like it either, but what choice do we have? _

_ We could- _

_ Freeze or starve to death. Or we could get on the ship. _

Sokka groans very loudly and rips his arm out of the Fire Nation soldier’s grip, but makes no further argument. 

One of the soldiers says, with a slight smirk, “Good choice,” and then they are loaded into the boat and paddled back to the giant ship. Katara spends the whole ride trying to keep her breathing down at a normal rate. She is in a boat. With three firebenders.  _ That’s completely normal and not terrifying at all. _

On the ship, several other firebenders come and form a sort of half circle around her and Sokka. That does nothing to calm her nerves. She hopes she looks calm and proud, but  _ she’s on a literal Fire Nation ship!  _ Her heart is pounding, her hands are shaking, and she’s breathing heavy. She’s terrified, and is aware that she probably looks like it. 

The crescent that the soldiers make around her and Sokka leaves them facing a man with a weird snowy fox-cat tail and a bad burn scar over his eye, twisting that side of his face into a scowl. It leaves him looking like a victim of the war instead of one of its perpetrators. 

But something about the scar seems familiar…. Katara starts when she realizes where she recognizes the man from: he was the one looking for the Avatar, the one that manhandled Gran Gran. Suddenly, the fact that this ship is what found her and Sokka seems less like a coincidence. Her gut twists. 

Beside her, Katara watches Sokka’s eyes widen and then narrow in recognition, and he charges the man with the scar. Because of course he does.

()()()()()()

The Water Tribe peasant doesn't make it two steps before being restrained by two of Zuko’s marines. He doesn’t know what he expected from a simple Water Tribe savage, but… Zuko had figured it would warrant at least  _ some _ gratitude. A few marines move closer to the girl, but she’s being docile enough. In fact, she looks terrified. Why neither of them are on their knees thanking him is a mystery. Such selflessness in rescuing them (although that hadn’t really been Zuko’s decision) warrants that kind of gratitude. 

The boy is struggling against the two men holding him in place - it does nothing except tire him out - and his expression is murderous. The girl… isn’t exactly on the opposite end of the spectrum. She’s white as a ghost, her eyes wide and darting everywhere, taking in Zuko, Uncle, the soldiers spread out across the deck, the marines that had moved closer to her, the ocean, everything. Her hands are restless, too. 

Zuko goes to the boy first. If he recognized the girl from the village, it is likely the boy is from the same place. Perhaps the one that yelled at Zuko? “Get away from me,” the peasant snarls.

Yup. Definitely the same person. 

“Relax, peasant,” Zuko scoffs. “You aren’t worth my time.” All that does is make the boy struggle harder. “Take them to room 14B. If they struggle, lock them in,” Zuko orders. His men nod and drag the boy - just leading the girl - below deck. 

Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “You did a good thing today, nephew,” Uncle murmurs from beside Zuko, making him jump. 

“Me?” Zuko asks incredulously. “I didn’t do anything. You did. What am I supposed to do with two Water Tribe peasants on my ship? I can’t take them back to the Fire Nation, and certainly not without making them prisoners.” 

“Then don’t,” Uncle says.

Zuko groans. “What? Whatever. Kyoshi Island is on the route we’re taking. It’s neutral in the war. It will be safe for us to dock, and safe for them to stay. And it’s close. We’ll be there in three days.”

Uncle looks like he wants to say something, but he, wisely, keeps his mouth shut. Zuko leaves to his cabin and locks himself in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I have no idea where this is going. I had a plan, dangit. And then Sokka and Katara ended up on the ship with Zuko. Anyway, see y'all next week.


End file.
